Cure me, please
by 7koukoua
Summary: The cure is... a kiss? But where did Akane go!


_**Disclaimer: I do NOT own Ranma 1/2 or its characters.**_

_This day is gonna be painful, _Ranma thought as he relaxed in his chair, eying the clock in the classroom. 15 minutes left before the end of the school day. These minutes, that were usually the highlight of his day, only elicited dread from him. In fact, on the lunch break, Shampoo and Ukyo both decided that they should feed him that day, and of course ended up fighting on who would do it. Ranma sighed in frustration. _Honestly, won't they ever get tired of this?_ All he wanted was for them to leave him alone. He had his bento which was neatly prepared by Akane. _I still can't believe she finally cooks edible food!_ Ranma smiled tenderly shooting a glance at his fiancée. Akane has been cooking for the family since Kasumi got married, and she was improving every day. He winced as he recalled the pain on her face as she watched his bento left untouched. _Of course, she thinks I prefer to eat what the other girls cook for me._ Ranma sighed again. As if that was not enough, both girls also decided that Ranma was going on a date with both of them that same day after school….

Drrrrrrrrrrrrnnnnnn

… which is now. Ranma groaned. _Better get it over with anyway_. Shampoo and Ukyo were already fighting in front of the gate and Ranma rolled his eyes at the scene. He tried to slip past them but was tackled by a chain that seemed to appear from nowhere.

_Not him, too… _But it was indeed Mousse wanting once again to fight for Shampoo. That attack got the girls' attention, and their faces brightened considerably when they saw their loved one.

"Ranchan!" Ukyo exclaimed while clutching his right arm.

"Airen!" Shampoo hurriedly grasped his other arm, and Ranma once again found himself sandwiched between the girls while everyone shot him envious looks. Ranma tried to shake them away but with no avail. Akane chose this moment to walk through the gate with her two friends, and stopped on her tracks when she saw the scene. Her left eyebrow twitched in fury but she ignored them and resumed walking as calmly as she could.

"Akane, help!" Ranma yelled but she kept ignoring him.

"I don't think you should leave, little sister." Nabiki butted in, casually. Everybody stopped shouting and looked at the Tendo girl, standing in front of them a letter in her hand. Nabiki never interrupted them unless there was something important. "Ranma, this letter came for you, from the Jusenkyo guide."

Ranma froze, trying to assimilate the situation. A letter? What would the guide need to tell him? Ranma finally freed himself from the girls and jumped in front of Nabiki.

"Give me that letter, Nabiki."

"Not that easily, Ranma." She smiled one of her yellow smiled, and Ranma shuddered knowing that he had to pay. "I'll give you the letter for 5000 yen only, see how much I'm good hearted, brother in law?"

"Fine, I'll pay, just give me the damn letter." Ranma shouted in frustration as he snatched the letter from her hand. Nabiki's smile widened as numbers rolled in her mind. The group gathered around Ranma as he unfolded the letter.

"_Dear Saotome san,_

_I'm glad to inform you that the 17__th__ of February of this year corresponds to a holy day that only comes once in a 100 years, according to the Chinese legends. It is said that in this day, 5000 years ago, an ugly witch fell in love with a handsome boy, but he rejected her. To get her revenge, she cursed the already existing jusenkyo springs, and the boy was cursed as a monster. The boy begged her for forgiveness and the witch told him that he could be cured if he kissed her on the lips. That's what the legend says._

_So to recapitulate:_

_You have to kiss a person from the opposite sex to get rid of the curse. A simple peck on the lips is enough. In your case, Saotome san, if you kiss a girl, you'll be a guy for good. But if you kiss a boy while you're a girl, you will remain a girl forever._

_If someone is cursed into an animal and wishes to remain an animal, he has to have intercourse with an animal from the same species and the opposite sex._

_When cured, you become immune to the cursed springs._

_The kiss is effective the 17__th__ of February BEFORE SUNSET._

_I hope this letter gets to you in time. Good luck."_

Ranma's head swirled at the letter's content. He could… be cured? His feelings were a mess, he couldn't think straight. He looked directly at Akane's eyes and found her blushing slightly. He blushed too. But before he could utter a sound, Shampoo's annoying voice brought him back to reality.

"Good good news, airen. Our love fix both us curses!" She beamed at him clutching him even harder than before, her lips already making their way to his. Ranma was completely shocked as he forgot they were there, and cursed Nabiki for telling him in front of _them. _But thankfully, Ukyo's blades interrupted the _moment _forcing Shampoo to release the boy.

It was Ukyo's turn to smother him: "Let _me _give you the cure as a token of my love," she smiled seductively at him.

_I don't have time for this!_ Ranma tried to concentrate his thoughts. _Before sunset! There are only two hours left before sunset._ The boy turned once again to Akane but she was not there. _Where the hell did she go! _His look didn't go unnoticed by Nabiki, who smiled a rare genuine smile. She knew who he wanted to kiss. So she walked away calmly, leaving things in his hands.

_I can't believe how this is turning out! _Ranma shouted in his mind, beyond unnerved. An hour has already passed, and he still couldn't find _HER._ _Where the hell did she go? _As if that wasn't enough, he was pursued not only by Shampoo and Ukyo, but also by Mousse, Kuno and Ryoga. _How did this happen! _He thought in frustration. But it was him after all, and bad things always happened to him. At one moment of their fight, Shampoo knocked Ukyo really hard and had precious moments to try once again to kiss him, but Mousse "saved" him by dripping cold water on them. Ranma shuddered as he remembered the cat's mouth on his. And then of course, Kuno _HAD_ to appear out of nowhere and try to kiss the pigtailed girl. Ranma shuddered again at the thought of being trapped in the girl's body forever. He had kicked him really far; hopefully he won't bother him again. And Ryoga? Well he didn't know about Ryoga, but he surely has heard about the cure and wants to be cured by Akane. _Akane, where the hell are you! _

A shriek caught his attention. It was Shampoo being chased by seemingly every male cat in Nerima. He smiled sadistically. _Good, let her learn._

As Ranma was about to run through the entire town for the second time, he spotted his blue headed fiancée sitting on a swing in an abandoned park. _Finally! _In a second, he landed in front of her and without as much as a word, swept her in his arms and leapt into the nearest roof, not caring about the shouting of the horde behind him, or Akane's kicks to his torso. He had to lose them, so he sped up and after a couple of minutes, he landed in a narrow alley. He strained to hear if they were close and sighed in relief when he didn't hear a thing.

Before uttering a word, Akane punched him in the face and leapt from his arms, fuming.

"Hey, what was that for?" Ranma groaned in pain.

"What for? You kidnapped me, baka!" Akane shouted at him, incredulous.

"Kidnapped?" he couldn't suppress a small laugh at her exaggeration, "come on, 'Kane, after all what we've been through, I would _kidnap _you?" Seeing that she was not amused, he sobered up and kept quiet for a moment. He saw her anger dissipating and her look shifting to sadness.

"Why did you go?" Ranma asked softly.

"Why would I stay?" she snapped at him, "you didn't need me anyway, you had your other fiancées ready to give you more than a kiss. By the way, are you cured yet?" she asked feigning nonchalance. When he didn't answer she looked up at him.

"Cured?" he was incredulous. "You think I would kiss one of these psychos?" He saw a small smile tug at the corner of her mouth and relief wash over her face, so he continued. "I wouldn't kiss them even if my life was hanging. On the other side the pigtailed goddess almost got a kiss." He shuddered at the memory and made a disgusted face and was rewarded by her soft chuckle. He smiled tenderly.

They remained silent for a moment, staring at each other, the tension palpable. Ranma swallowed and prayed for the umpteenth time for courage and smoothness. _Definitely smoothness, _he thought to himself.

"Akane… This kiss is … the most important kiss in my life." He stuttered uncertainly, "I'll surely remember it my entire life, and I don't want this memory to be attached to a girl who is insignificant to me." _She seems to find it hard to believe that I'm telling her these things, _he thought in dread._ God why does she have to look that beautiful! It's hard to concentrate! _He gulped in panic._ I wanna look away but I have to say it to her face! _"I want to be cured by the girl that I l… love." _Finally! I've said it!_

They both blushed and looked down. Akane couldn't believe what she heard, her heart was thumping so loud she swore he could hear it. _Is he… talking about me?_ He looked so sincere, so intense. Her mind wandered for a minute amazed by his courage in talking about such a touchy subject without cowering. True, the matter was important and little time remained, but it also had something to do with the events of Mt Phoenix. Ranma changed a lot after that, he was far more protective and caring. He hasn't called her names for a year now, apart from the occasional _baka_ that didn't hurt that much.

"I.. I know that in the past you almost married me to get me the cure." _Oh god, he IS talking about me! _ "I still don't know your feelings though, if you did that strictly for my sake. I need YOU for the cure, once again." He half smiled, "but I don't want you to do it out of pity, I'm asking you to do it only if you … have feelings for me."

Akane's blush intensified and she stared at him with wide eyes. Ranma panicked and added: "I know you…" But his head shot to the west and he concentrated hard to hear. "Damn it, they're here, we're gonna have to run again!" _Thank god they interrupted me, I was surely gonna say something stupid!_

_We're getting interrupted AGAIN! I'm having none of it._ Akane searched quickly for a hiding place. The alley had a dead end, and old doors scattered on the two sides. She noticed that one of the doors not so far from her was not aligned with the others, so that the person standing in front of it wouldn't get seen from the street. But there wasn't much room for two persons to fit. _It'll have to do._ Without warning she swiftly pulled him to her as he was going to hold her and run, and Ranma found himself pinning her against the door.

As if the closeness weren't enough, Akane clutched his shirt and pulled him against her even more fearing that his back might be seen, and she whispered: "With some luck, they won't see us."

Despite the gravity of the situation, Ranme couldn't ignore the fact that their bodies were touching, crashing against each other, in all the right places. Her warm breath against his neck dazed him, but when she wiggled and held him even tighter, her breasts were squeezed against his torso, and it drove him completely crazy.

_Oh god, make them pass quickly! _He knew that in that position, it would be a matter of minutes before Akane could _feel _his arousal. He pictured in horror Akane's eyes widening in shock, malleting him into oblivion. _Oh god, make them pass quickly! Oh god, make them pass quickly!_

Thankfully the running gang passed the alley without as much as a glance. Ukyo cast a look at it but found nobody, so she kept running.

The couple finally relaxed as they listened to the fading sound of their footsteps, and sighed in relief. Akane loosened her death grip on Ranma's shirt, but she didn't withdraw her hand. Ranma breathed, now more comfortable, and didn't move, his hands lingering on her waist.

They both blushed at their position and looked intensely at each other for moments. Finally Akane whispered: "They're gone." Rama acknowledges with a light nod, still not trusting his voice. He leaned in slowly closing the distance between their lips but she interrupted him quickly, knowing she HAD to know the answer to her question.

"What if I said no?" Ranma flinched at her words but she went on, "would you give up on the cure?"

Ranma looked at her gravely. "No, I wouldn't." Her shoulders slumped in defeat, disappointment written all over her face. His voice softened. "If you say no, that means that you don't love me. Then nothing of this will hold any importance to you. Even to me." She remained silent so he continued. "I thought about it when I was looking for you. I pictured myself getting rejected, and the fear of it almost made me give up the cure altogether. But then I accepted to take the risk. It's now or never."

They kept silent for a while, then Ranma added uneasily: "If you say no…" his voice quivered slightly, "I thought about kissing Kasumi." Akane's head shot up abruptly and her eyes widened in sheer surprise. Ranma fidgeted. "You know, she's the kindest person to me, and I know she's the only girl that won't make a big deal out of it. Then I would disappear from your life for good." Then he added quietly, "Might as well kiss the first girl I see on the street, it wouldn't have any meaning anyway. It would be just a task I have to accomplish."

Akane's mind was still frozen, trying to process the idea. Images of Ranma kissing her big sister flowed through her mind. There was _some _logic in his words. After all, if she didn't love him, why would it bother her if he kissed her sister, or any other woman for that matter? _NO!_ She thought, _I won't allow i! No way in hell…_

"…No!" Ranma was scrutinizing her face when the word slipped from her mouth, taking him off guard.

"No?"

_Crap, I said it aloud!_ Akane cursed silently. His closeness suffocated her, and she had nowhere to hide. She sighed in defeat."No. Don't… don't kiss HER." She almost whispered looking down, blushing madly and hiding her face in his shirt.

She said it so low he almost missed it. But he didn't. Relief flooded through him as he felt her head against his torso and he sighed contently. With one finger on her chin he forced her head up and gazed lovingly at her. "You've never looked so cute, 'Kane." She tried to hide again, her face reddening even more if it was possible, but Ranma forced her to keep looking at him.

"There's only you in my heart and in my mind. Only you." It was too much for her, she couldn't hold back the tears that were threatening to fall since the beginning. Ranma tensed as he saw her tears, "Akane, why are you crying?" she could feel the distress in his voice so she shook her head vigorously "Nothing Ranma, it's just… You've never said such nice things to me." More tears fell and Ranma's eyes softened. _What have I done to her these past years! _He held her close, whispering sweet things to her as she cried softly in his arms. "I'm sorry, 'Kane, I'm so sorry. It's over now, everything is gonna be okay."

Several minutes later Akane stopped crying and looked timidly at him. He brushed her tears tentatively, some fear of rejection still lingering in his heart. But when she leaned into his touch and sighed, all doubt left his mind, and he caressed her cheek tenderly. Akane couldn't help but shiver when his hand rested on the nape of her neck. _She looks so fragile, _Ranma thought, _and so damn beautiful! _And when she unconsciously wet her lips, he couldn't hold it anymore. He leaned in slowly stopping inches away from her mouth. He cursed himself for trembling, and for blushing for that matter. Finally, Akane closed her eyes, and that was the final consent he needed. And in a second, his lips were on hers. It was a small kiss, and it lasted only few seconds, but it was enough to send the couple to a heaven they never knew existed. _More!_ That's all Ranma could think of as he drew away from her. He wanted, no, he needed more. And in that second he understood that he'll never get enough of her, that he'll always want more. He rested his forehead on hers, staring at her with heavy eyelids. When he leaned in for another kiss Akane asked him in surprise:

"Aren't you gonna check?"

_The cure..right.. _"Just… Just to make sure it works." He whispered before claiming her mouth again, this time more forcefully. His right hand was still cradling her neck and his left hand slid from her waist to her ass, drawing her even closer to him.

Akane moaned in his mouth with both pleasure and surprise at his wandering hands, but didn't try to push him away. Why would she? She was in a complete bliss, feeling loved and cherished for the first time in her life.

Finally they drew away panting and staring at each other, still in each other's arms.

"That… that should do it." Ranma breathed, his heart pounding so hard he thought it might explode. Akane couldn't help but giggle happily and his eyes instantly darkened again, his mind clouded with lust and his senses overwhelmed by her closeness. Feeling the mood shift again, Akane pushed him softly, smiling: "Come on Ranma, we really need to check now. We'll have a lot of time to do THAT later." Akane blushed at her own boldness. Ranma's face sobered and a sad look replaced lust, and he stepped away from her.

Akane didn't understand. Did she say something wrong? She followed him and touched his arm lightly making him look at her again.

"What's wrong, Ranma?"

It took him a moment to answer. "I'm scared." He was whispering, ashamed to pour his darkest feelings to her, but in the same time needing her comfort so much. "What if it doesn't work? What if I get disappointed, again."Akane's eyes saddened as she finally understood his fear. "What if I never get cured, 'Kane?" He shot her a grief struck look before averting his gaze. "Would you still lo.. want me?"

Akane couldn't believe her ears. Was he serious? He was worried about _that_? Her rejecting him, because of the curse?

"You, dummy." Akane said before hugging him hard, taking him by surprise yet again. "You have no idea how much I love you, do you?" Ranma tensed for a second upon hearing the word. That was the first time she says it, and any thought about the curse or the cure left his mind. He hugged her back shaking his tears away. Akane pulled back and added softly: "I don't care about the curse, Ranma. You've been cursed from the day I met you, and I've always loved you. You could turn into a man eating monster for that matter, I couldn't care less."

Ranma smiled timidly at her and whispered, "Thank you."

"Come on, now. Let's see if Ranko is still among us." Akane said cheerfully dragging her smiling fiancée along.

_**Author's notes: This idea has been on my mind for ages, and I finally wrote it down. I hope you guys like it. R&R as always.  
From the reviews I can see that many readers wanted the fic to end differently, I understand that, and I left the end hanging on purpose. I also didn't expand on the others (shampoo, ryoga...) simply because I don't like writing about them (as many of you already noticed). The scene between Ranma and Akane was the only thing that I wanted to write.  
So if anyone has an idea for an ending, or even another take on the story, feel free to write a sequel or whatever, I'll be eager to read it :)**_


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